Type-writer-platen support.



No. 759,319. PATENTED MAY 10, 1904. J. H. W. MARRIOTT.

TYPE WRITER PLATEN SUPPORT.

. APPLIUATION FILED DEC. 6, 1903. K0 MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

TNE Nouns Punks to, PAoTo-umu WASNINGTON, u. c.

N0. 759,819. PATENTED MAY 10, 1904. J. H. W. MARRIOTT.

TYPE WRITER PLATEN SUPPORT. APPLICATION 11.21) DBO. 5. 190a.

Qvwemboz witnesses UNITED STATES Patented May 10, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

TYPE-WRlTEH-PLATEN SUPPORT- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,819, dated. May 10, 1904. Original application filed October 5, 1903, Serial No. 175,773. Divided and this application filed December 5, 1903. Serial To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES H. W. MARRIOTT, a citizen of the United States, residing at W ashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-WVriter-Platen Supports, of which the following is a specification.

The purpose of my invention is to provide improved means for supporting sheets of paper or cards of various widths beneath a writ ing-machine adapted to print upon fiat surfaces; and it comprises a platen-carriage movable upon fixed guideways below the printingmachine and adapted to support platens of various sizes which may be interchangeably mounted upon the platen-carriage and are each provided with paper-guiding means and mechanism for moving said carriage for linespacing. The platen having paper-guides at its edges is made the subject of another application, Serial No. 175,7 73, filed October 5, 1903, of which the present application is a division. Platens of various sizes are provided, each having fixed guides at its edges for the purpose of alining the paper, and the platencarriage and platens are provided with coopcrating means for readily alining any one of a series of platens upon the carriage and for holding the platens against movement rela-v tively to the carriage when in position, so that when it is desired to write upon paper of any given size a platen of corresponding size may be placed upon the carriage in a moment, and as the platen carries at its edges the guides for the paper no auxiliary guiding devices are necessary.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of the platen-carriage having a platen thereon and the platen-spacing mechanism, this view showing also the fixed guiderails for the writing-machine mounted upon standards and an outline of the writing-machine to indicate the relative positions of the parts. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the platencarriage, partly broken away to show the spacing mechanism, a platen being shown upon the carriage. Fig. 3 is a section through the platen on the line :0 a: of Fig.2. Fig. 1 is a section through the platen-carriage on the line (No model.)

a: w of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a bottom plan View 5 of a platen, and Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of a platen of greater width than that shown in the preceding figure.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, of the drawings, 1 and 2 indicate a pair of platen- 5 5 guideways, which are to be secured to a table or other fixed support and arranged parallel with a pair of fixed maehine-guideways 3 and 1, which are mounted upon standards 5 and 6,

respectively, and supported thereby at a con- 0 siderable distance above the table or other fixed support. The writing-machine A (indicated partly in outline in Fig. 1) is carried upon the fixed machine-guideways 3 and 1, and thus sup ported at a fixed height above the writing-sur- 5 face. Upon the platen-guideways 1 and 2 I arrange a platen support or carriage B, consisting, preferably, of alight steel frame having the necessary rigidity for affording a solid and unyielding support for the platen which it oar- 7 rice. In Fig. 2 of the drawings the platen-can riage is shown as consisting of a rectangular frame having longitudinal guide-pieees 7 on its lower side,which fit against the platen guideways 1 and 2 throughout the length of the car- 7 5 riage, and side pieces 8, which are connected by end pieces 9 and intermediate cross-pieces 10. Arack-bar 11 is secured to the under side of one of the side pieces 8, and a pinion l2, journaled upon a stud 13, engages this rack. The

stud 13 projects vertically upward from the table or support. and a ratchet-wheel 1 1 is secured to the pinion 12 and rotates with the pinion upon the stud 13. The platen-carriage is spaced rearwardly step by step for line- 5 spacing by means of a lever 15, which is pivoted upon a stud 16 and carries a spring-pawl 17, which normally engages the ratchet-wheel 14. .The'lever is normally drawn rearwardly against a fixed stop 18 by a spring 19. adjustable stop 20 is arranged in front of the lever upon a pivot-pin 21 in such position that the lever will strike the stop 20 when moved forward. This stop has two projections 22 and 23 extending at right angles to one another and to different distances from thepivotal point of the stop, and, as will readily be seen by the full and dotted lines,

either projection 22 or 23 may be brought into position to limit the movement of the spacinglever, and the distance to which the platencarriage moves at each operation of the lever may thus be varied and the distance between thelines of printed matter accordingly varied. The platen-carriage can be moved rearwardly to any desired position without using the spacing-lever by simply pushing the carriage backward with the hand. hen it is desired to draw the carriage forward, however, the pawl may be released from the ratchet-wheel by turning a cam-lever 24 from the position shown in full lines to the position shown in dotted lines. This cam-lever is connected to a cam 25, which latter is pivoted to the spacing-lever 15, and, as is clearly shown in the drawings, while the cam-lever is in the position shown in full lines the pawl engages the ratchet-wheel; but when the cam -lever is turned into the position shown in dotted lines the cam engages the free end of the pawl and throws the hooked end out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel. Upon each end piece 9 of the platen-carriage is arranged a series of equidistant pins or projections 26, which extend slightly above the upper surface of the carriage. These pins are adapted to en gage correspondingly-spaced holes or openings 27, located in the under sides of the removable platens C near their ends and to hold a platen of any desired size upon the carriage in a correct and fixed position.

Platens of various widths are provided, so that a platen of the proper Width to suit the size of the paper which it is desired to print upon may be placed upon the platen-carriage. As shown in Figs. 3, 5, and 6, the base or bot tom of each platen consists of a sheet of thin steel 28, in. the ends of which the holes or openings 27 are formed, and secured to the upper side of this plate is another thin plate 29, having upwardly-turned edges 30, which project slightly above the rubber or other composition printing-bed 31, which is arranged upon the plate 29 between the projecting edges 30. These edges 30 form guides for the paper, and it will be seen that in order to position the paper upon a platen it is merely necessary to bring one end and one lateral edge of the paper against the guide 30 at one end and one lateral edge of the platen. In Writing upon narrow paper or cards a narrow platen will be used, and for paper or cards of greater width a platen of corresponding width will be selected, and the platens, as will be seen, can be changed in a moment. This avoids the necessity for arranging clamping and guiding devices upon the upper surface of the platen, such as are required Where a platen of uniform width is employed for papers or cards of various widths. The paper may be held upon the platen by ordinary detachable paper-clips 32, Fig. 3, which are suitably formed to grip the lower edge of the plate 29 and to extend around the guiding edge 30 and grip the upper surface of the platen. In order that these clips may not interfere with the platen-carriage, the base-plate 28 of each platen is made somewhat narrower than the plate 29 to form a recess 29 at the edges, into which the lower tongue of the clip extends.

IVhile I have shown a series of pins on the platen-carriage and platens with correspondingly-arranged openings for the purpose of alining and holding the platens against movement upon the carriage, other means may be employed for this purpose; but I prefer the construction specified on account'of its simplicity. The form of the guiding projections at the edges of the platen may be varied, and it will be obvious that various changes in the form and construction of the platen-carriage may be made within the scope of my invention.

hen the writing-machine is moved upon its guideways for line-spacing, of course the platen carriage or support remains stationary. The platens each correspond in thickness, and

as the platen-support remains at a fixed dis tance below the Writing-machine and the guideways of the ma'chine'and platen-support are in fixed relation to one another the printing-surfaces of each of the various platens of the series will be at the proper height to receive the type impressions when the platens are placed upon the support.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. The combination with a platen-support, of a series of flat platens of various sizes adapted to fit interchangeably upon said platen-support, and cooperating means connected with said support and said platens for holding each platen in alinement upon the support.

2. The combination with platen-guideways, ofa platen support or carriage movable thereon, a series of fiat platens of various widths adapted to fit interchangeably upon the platensupport, and cooperating means connected with said support and said platens for holding each platen in alinement upon the support.

3. The combination with platen-guideways, of a platen support or carriage movable thereon, a series of fiat platens of various widths adapted to fit interchangeably upon the platensupport, each platen having paper-guiding means afiixed thereto, and cooperating means connected with said support and said platens for holding each platen in alinement upon the support.

4. The combination with platen-guideways, of a platen support or carriage movable thereon, means for spacing said carriage or support longitudinally of the guideways, a series of flat platens of various widths adapted to fit interchangeably upon the platen-support, and cooperating means connected with said support and said platens for holding each platen in alinement upon the support.

The combination with a :)laten-support, adapted to hold platens of various widths, a writing-machine adapted to write upon fiat surfaces and means for supporting said machine at a fixed distance above the platen-support, of a series of flat platens, corresponding in thickness and varying in width, and adapted to fit interchangeably upon the platen-support, and cooperating means connected with said support and platens for holding any one of said platens in alinement upon the support.

6. The combination with a platen-support, adapted to hold platens of various widths, a writing-machine adapted to write upon flat surfaces and means for supporting said ma chine at a fixed distance above the platen-support, of a series of flat platens, corresponding in thickness and varyingin width, and adapted to fit interchangeably upon the platen-support, each platen having paper-guiding means aflixed thereto, and cooperating means connected with. said support and platens for holding any one of said platens in alinement upon the support.

7. The combination with platen-guideways, a platen support or carriage mounted thereon, said support comprising a fiat frame having projections arranged transversely upon its upper surface at equal distances apart, and means for moving said support for line-spacing, of one or more'fiat platens, each having recesses in its lower side adapted to fit over said projections.

8. The combination with a writing-machine adapted to write upon flat surfaces and means for supporting said machine inde 'iendently of a platen-support arranged below the writingmachine and having a series of platen-holding devices arranged transversely upon its upper surface, and a series of platens varying in width adapted to rest interchangeably upon said support and having parts adapted to be engaged by said platen-holding devices, each platen having paper-guiding means aflixed thereto.

10. The combination with fixed machineguideways adapted to support a writing-machine and platen-guideways arranged parallel therewith and in fixed relation thereto, of a platen support or carriage mounted upon said platen-guideways, a series of platens varying in width adapted to rest interchangeably upon said support, and cooperating means connected with said support and platens for holding the various platens against lateral movement upon the support.

In testimony whereof I afiixmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES H. l/V. MARRIOTT.

Witnesses:

ROBERT WVA'rsoN, BERNARD W. Bon'rzs 

